50 Interesting Facts About Sydney

Join me as I travel, play, eat, live and work in cities and places around the world.

Published December 26th 2012

Sydney receives over 10 million international and domestic visitors each year for its beaches and attractions. Given its favourable weather, rich European history, vibrant economy and diverse lifestyle options, it is not surprising that Australia's largest city is such a popular destination for tourist and migrants. However, Sydney is more than just the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and beaches.

Here are 50 interesting facts I picked up while in Sydney to share with travellers and locals who may find them interesting to share with family and friends.

13) The Sydney Fish Market is the largest market of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and the world's 3rd largest fish market.

14) George Street is the oldest street in the whole of Australia.

15) It accounts for about 1/3 of the employment in Australia's finance industry with 65% of Australia's finance industry located here including banks (domestic & foreign), financial services, insurance, funds management and stockbroking firms.

16) Operating since 1875, the Sydney Ferries carries over 14 million passengers each year in and around Sydney.

25) The Queen Victoria Building (QVB) constructed between 1893 and 1898 was named to commemorate the Queen of England's Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

26) It is home to Opera Australia, the 3rd busiest opera company in the world.

27) 1 in 8 people are over 65 years old in Sydney.

28) It's popular cliff top coastal Bondi to Coogee walk with views of beaches, parks, cliffs, bays and rock pools runs 6 kilometres and takes about 2 hours to complete.

29) 60 percent of Australia's top 100 companies are headquarters in Sydney.

30) It has become the playground of Hollywood stars, including Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson, Justin Timberlake, Sylvester Stallone, Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Lopez.

31) Over 229 films have been set in, or featured Sydney including those of Hollywood and Bollywood. Parramatta played host to Owen Wilson and Kate Hudson film premiere "You, Me and Dupree" and Sydney Harbour was the set for "Finding Nemo".

43) 13 percent of the known species of eucalyptus around the world are found in the Blue Mountains helping to make the Greater Blue Mountains Area a World Heritage Area by UNESCO on 29 November 2000.

44) There were an estimated 1,745,827 people employed in the Sydney Metropolitan Region in 2011 with the largest industries by employment being retail trade (187,647), followed by health care and social assistance (177,087) and manufacturing (176,437).

45) The "Bondi Burger", served at Oporto restaurants, is named after Bondi Beach.

46) The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) established in 1880 and is the most important public gallery in Sydney and the fourth largest in Australia.

47) The population of the Sydney Metropolitan Region is projected to add almost 1.4 million people to a size of 5,635,209 by 2036.

48) It's Central Business District (CBD) is the largest office market in Australia offering 4.6 million m2 of office space with most of the demand coming from the finance, legal and services business sectors.